Book One: Growing Down
by Jademagic
Summary: Evan Daniels and Pietro and Wanda Maximoff: three of the bitterest rivals to X-men and Brotherhood alike. But maybe they weren't always like that; maybe there's something personal behind their bitterness...
1. Brothers

Disclaimer: Yes, that's right; I own everything, everything I tell you!!! ::laughs evilly::

Kevin: She doesn't own anything, and I personally think that's a good thing…

Filius: I second that notion…

P.J.: Ditto.

Me: WHY IS EVERYONE AGAINST ME???

**_Before you read this story, I feel I must  warn you… this is the first book of the Lensherr Family Series, a series about this particular family's lives, which I'm afraid were not at all pleasant at the beginning for most of it's members. If you are looking for something funny, or happy, I suggest you read something by Red Witch, or even one of the _Series of Unfortunate Events****_. _****_Though this story is not horribly deathly dark with solemn words and empty feelings as some of the best stories I've read such as _Everything is Wonderful****_, they are non the less unpleasant, though there is some happiness in some places. I will not hold it against you if you stop reading right here. You have been warned....___**

*Brothers*

            "….HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU??!?!?!" The two boys flinched involuntarily at the tone of the man's voice. "YOU ARE NOT TO HANG OUT WITH THE LIKES OF THEM!!!!!!!" the man's voice continued to rise with rage, apparently forgetting that only one was his son. "GO TO YOUR ROOMS!! YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL TOLD OTHERWISE!!! NOW, MARCH!!!!!!!!" the two boys immediately scrambled past the man and up the steps as fast as they could, pausing in front of a door with silver lettering on it that was across from a door with yellow lettering on. The boys leaned on each other and started laughing as soon as they caught their breath. A girl with long black hair appeared out of a third door with red lettering on it, a slight scowl on her face that relaxed into a smile that she couldn't hold back.

            "You realize that one of these days, F.D. going to get you good, right?" She asked in a superior voice. This caused them to only laugh harder. Suddenly, a small statue sitting on a table in the hallway smashed both boys in the head. The girl was no longer smiling. The boys looked up with indignant huffs. "You should listen to him; those kids can get you into a lot of trouble. And anyway, you should hang around with kids your age, not twice as much as it." She shrieked suddenly as something came whizzing by her, almost pinning her to the wall. She yanked it out and let out a dry 'ha-ha-ha'. Throwing it on the floor, she tried to crush it beneath her feet.

            "Wait a minute," the older of the boys exclaimed suddenly. "F.D.'s not technically my dad, and technically, I don't live here, so technically, he can't ground me, so technically, I can go outside!" he laughed as the younger kid hit him with something that was short and pointed. "Hey!"

            "Question: who taught you how to fish, hunt, ride a bike, and most of the other stuff you know?" The older kid tried to grab the younger boy, but only ended up getting himself in a headlock.

            "F.D.," he grunted.

            "And," the light-haired younger boy continued. "Where can you almost always be found?"

            "Here," he grunted again.

            "And do you or do you not have your own personal room and a spot everywhere in or around this house?" The girl was joining in now.

            "Yes." The silver haired boy was getting impatient. They always went through this when they got in trouble, and they'd always end up goofing off and getting into deeper trouble.

            "And, who do you listen to no matter what?" The younger boy had an extremely good grip on the older boy, despite how much smaller he was than the silver-haired one.

            "M.D., F.D., and always A.O.," he answered without any hesitation. 

            "I think he gets the point, Evan," the girl told the younger boy. He let him go.

            "Man, what, do you and Wanda practice that little move when you're locked up together in your room, or do you two do something else?" he grinned as Evan and Wanda both blushed slightly.

            "I don't go in Evan's room, thank you very much, _little bro," Wanda responded, pleased with upsetting Pietro._

            "We're twins! We were born on the same day!" the silver haired twelve year old spat back.

            "Hey, do you guys want to get into any more trouble?" Evan marched toward his bedroom that had 'Evan' spelled out in yellow letters on the oak door. He mumbled something, running a hand through his unnatural hair that was lighter than his skin. 

            Pietro and Wanda stood out in the hall a little longer before they both went in their own rooms.

****************

            Pietro glanced around his room. His bed sat against on wall, light blue covers on it. The walls were covered with posters and pictures of him, his sister, Evan, and either Evan's parents and Aunt or a man with silver hair, just like his, in various places on various dates. Some were taken when they were all toddlers, just barely walking, and some were as recent as last month's barbecue. He thought it strange that Evan's aunt had hair that was as light as his, and that Evan himself, who'd had light hair when he was a baby, had hair that only got lighter as he got older. Of course, that was nothing compared to what the pictures didn't show. His A.O. could control the weather, which was pretty neat as they could usually talk her into 'helping' the weather so that they had a white Christmas every year. His own twin sister make things act weird, go on the fritz, and sometimes if she really concentrated, she could send out small energy blasts or even shut down Evan and his little spike throwing habit. Pietro winced slightly as he imagined spikes coming out of his skin, though it never seemed to hurt his 'brother'.  Then there was his own father. Pietro felt a stab of pain and jealously at the thought of his father who liked Wanda and Evan better than him, his own son, because his father could manipulate metallic fields and found delight in children who also had strange abilities. 

He rarely even saw him. Maybe that's what hurt the most; whenever he came, he always brought them all along, but he gloated over Wanda and Evan; they could do anything and still be little angels in his eye. It just wasn't right. Sure, he loved his sister and 'brother' as far as family goes, but he still hated the fact that his father seemed only interested in you for _what you could do for him, not who you were…even if you were his own flesh and blood..._

*******************

            Wanda sat on her bed, listening to her brother's thoughts. She hated it when he got into these kind of moods. He would suddenly seem so distant from them, and he wouldn't say one word about any of it. She wouldn't even know what was wrong if they didn't have that limited telepathy. _He's brooding over Father again._ She thought bitterly. 

            _Pietro, I know you're upset; we're upset, too, but can you please save this for another time? She told her brother, then tried to break the link, but Pietro wouldn't let her._

            "Pietro," she growled out loud. Pietro continued to hold onto it though.

            _I need to talk with someone. He informed her._

            _Then talk to Evan. She replied bitterly. She had thinking of her own to do, and _she_ didn't want her brother intruding on _her_ thoughts._

            _It's not the same. He rebutted _

            _He may be our father, but Evan understands it too; he's being used, and he doesn't even have to. He's being used because the two people he cares about most in the world next to his aunt keep dragging him back into it, and he keeps being dragged out of sheer love and loyalty to us, with our stupid false hope over and over again that just keeps getting broke!. Wanda was really upset now. Why _did _they keep that false hope? They knew how it would always end up. They knew he was only using them to his own ends. Wanda felt a surge of anger, a few light bulbs popped and Wanda felt unusually satisfied at the tinkling of the broken light bulb pieces on the red floor of her bedroom. No response from Pietro; he had to have felt that anger. _Pietro?_ She mentally tried to contact her brother; he was still there, but he wouldn't respond to her. Maybe he was listening to her slightly then._

*********************

            Evan tossed a small ball against the wall his collection of skateboards, various makes, styles, and colors. He sighed as he gazed at the many pictures of his family and E. _His family_. Wasn't that nice? Pietro and Wanda weren't even considered his close friends, anymore; he considered them his family. If someone asked him if he was an only child, he'd say 'Actually, I've got an older brother and sister that are twins', and they always said they had one twin and one younger brother that 'was not someone you take very lightly'; they got a kick out of making Evan out to be some vicious younger brother that they had to keep locked up at night or else he might kill anyone who had stepped on his or any of his family's toes; and Evan liked it…sometimes. 

Then again, they're thoughts that they were telling the truth about them having the same parent might not have been that far off, since Wanda and Pietro's foster parents didn't exactly fit 'parent' description. As a matter of fact, the only time Wanda and Pietro were really ever there was for about two days before E came and a week after he left, because they were convinced that he had spies on them at least that long whenever he came, and if they weren't with them, they wouldn't get their money, the only reason for giving a hoot to who Wanda and Pietro were. 

He hated that fact. He didn't understand how someone could abandon their kids like that. Evan also had a sneaking suspicion that those Maximoffs were abusing Wanda and Pietro; more than once, Pietro had come back with bruises or horrible cuts, and once, he even came back with a deep gash on his chest that looked as if it had cut very deep, and had probably been only an inch or so to the right of his heart. Wanda would almost always come back and flinch if anyone so much as put their hand too close to her without telling her first. 

Evan looked out his window to the completely normal looking house next door and watched as Mrs. Maximoff watered the flowers in her garden. He hated her; putting on that act to fool everyone, but she didn't fool Evan. If it wasn't for constant argument from Wanda about how 'their father obviously thought it best' and even more physical persuasion from Pietro, Evan would have marched over there a long time ago and killed them; at least that's what he kept telling himself. In truth, no matter how much he wanted to be like Trigger, Check, and all of the others, he wasn't and Pietro and Wanda weren't and they never would be, thank goodness.

            _'E knows best my backside' Evan thought bitterly. "When I have kids someday, I vow that I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are happy, and that they're never mistreated by anyone, even myself!" Evan yelled solemnly at his room. He glared at the pictures. Two of them caught his eye. They looked as if they had only been taken yesterday, yet he couldn't remember it. Evan thought that strange, because they were the only pictures in which E was in, yet Evan looked genuinely happy; even in the pictures of him and his own folks, he looked slightly distant from the rest. He removed the pictures from the wall, taking a careful look at the first one. He and Pietro were sitting in two swings, wearing black jeans and baby blue collared shirts, neatly tucked in and buttoned. Pietro looked as if he was in the act of laughing, just like his sister who sat on his lap, wearing black jeans and a shirt just like Evan and Pietro's, except that it was light pink in color. The part Evan was most curious about, however, was the fact that there was a second girl, wearing the same thing as Wanda, sitting on Evan's lap, and his face was turned to hers. They had to have been looking at the other's face; both eyes were bright and twinkling even in the picture, making Evan feel as if they would jump up and start playing suddenly. _

The girl had shoulder length dark auburn hair that was strangely the same color as Pietro and E's in the very front that had been arranged into bangs. Evan was completely shocked, but that wasn't all; another kid sat near the girl's feet, a messy mop of reddish, brown hair flowing on his head, his eyes the thing startling Evan the most; they were red on black.

            "That's not normal," Evan thought out loud, then added as he looked to another kid was standing between  Wanda and Pietro and himself, "then again, neither is that." The kid looked like a fuzzy blue demon, his smile revealing sharp fangs; seemingly flicking carelessly behind him was a tail that ended in a spade shape. 

On the other side of the swing stood yet another boy and girl, the boy had long, dishwater brown hair and pale yellow eyes, though he had pupils, unlike the blue boy. The girl had blond hair put in the oddest hairstyle Evan had ever seen, even counting his own, in his opinion. 

The last two children were both girls, both with long, dark hair, though one had tan skin, and the other was actually wearing an eye patch. The tan girl was leaning against the blue boy, and the last girl was grouped closely with himself, the girl, and the boy with the weird eyes; all of them had their arms around each other. The dishwater hair boy sitting in a strange position right beside Wanda, and the blond had her arms draped around Pietro.

            "What the-?" Evan searched desperately for Wanda's mind. He knew that Pietro must have been looking at the pictures too, and if he knew anything about Pietro, he was upset, and he was mentally talking with Wanda. That was good; it was easier for him to get through to one of them if they had already set up a link, though it still drained all of them to accomplish it with Evan since none of them were telepaths, and Wanda and Pietro could really only communicate because they were twins. _Wanda?_ Pietro had gotten Wanda upset again. Not good; not good one little bit. Not that Evan didn't like her; it was just, when she got angry, she could quite possibly destroy the entire city. _It's not the same._ Evan heard Pietro tell Wanda. Right, he was tampering with Wanda, he couldn't get her thoughts, only Pietro. Wanda must have responded, but something snapped in Pietro... Evan sighed, grabbed his coat, tucked the pictures in his pocket, and climbed out his window.

********************

            "I don't know what the heck you think you're doing, but you know you're not supposed to upset Wanda! What, are you brain dead tonight or something?" Evan seethed as Pietro fell into the silver colored chair that sat in a triangle like arrangement of chairs in the center of the tree house. "By the way, do you remember this picture? The date says it was taken yesterday, but I don't recall any of it." Evan tossed the picture on the table. Pietro closed and rubbed his eyes as if he were tired, then glanced at the picture.

            "No, now get me a beer, Porky," Pietro grunted. Evan scowled, but walked to the fridge and removed two bottles, tossing one to Pietro and keeping one to himself. He sat down in his own yellow sit and proceeded to open the bottle. Pietro looked his own bottle over critically.  He slammed it down angrily on the table.

            "I said get me a beer," he growled.

            "And I said that my name is Porcupine, PQP, or Spyke, the Wonder Porcupine, but not Porky, _Wondy_," Evan replied calmly, preparing to take a sip from it.

            "It's Wonder or Wonder Boy, get it right! And you know I'm finished with it all anyway after this, so shut up and get me a beer," he huffed.

            "Dad said no more beer, so the closest thing you're getting is that Root Beer," Evan smirked. "Cheers." He took a sip.

            "Oh," Pietro shut up about the beer. 

            "Now, look at the picture; it's strange, because they have to go to our school, otherwise, why would they be wearing out uniform? Also, there are way too many of them to be our class, even if half of them were in  your grade and the other half were in mine, but I don't ever remember seeing any of them before, and people like that, you don't easily forget," Evan informed Pietro.

            He took a better look at it. "You know, you're right; we should remember this, especially you since you look so happy about that girl right there," Pietro laughed dryly, pointing to the one on Evan's lap. Evan's cheeks tinted red.

            "Ha, ha, ha. You know, you don't seem to be complaining about that blond draped all over you, Silver," Evan retorted. A tinge of pink lit Pietro's pale face.

            "I agree with Silver, you should remember, Evan; not because of the girl, but because you remember every single thing since we first met when we were three." 

            "AHH!" Both boys jumped at the sound of Wanda's unexpected voice.

            "You want to give us a heart attack, or something, Scarlet?" Pietro yelled.

            "But you know I'm right," Wanda replied. Pietro looked down at his left arm where a thin, barely visible pink scar went from the crook of his elbow to dangerously close to his wrist. He let our a small hiss of pain as he remembered the only thing from that day; pain. Evan himself placed a tender finger to right above his right temple. Wanda looked at both boys sympathetically and let out a sharp breath. "I'm really sorry about that, you know."

            "Yeah,"  Evan waved her off. "You didn't know what you were doing, you didn't mean to, and you were just scared. Besides, at least the tree was only a small one and at least those stupid Maximoffs got what was coming; bad karma, right?"

            Pietro nodded slightly. "Just like A.O. always tells us." They sat in an uncomfortable silence, Pietro and Wanda wishing they remembered that day, but thanking God that they didn't, Evan trying desperately to forget it, but still remember.

            Wanda spoke first. "Anyway, back to the picture- why the heck am I patting that kid on the head?!?!" Wanda grabbed the picture up to closer inspect it.

            "'Heck'? Come on, you've said worse things than hell before," Pietro chuckled.

            "That's not all," Evan interrupted, preventing a possible oncoming fight between the two as he removed a second picture. He handed it to Pietro who spit out his Root Beer.

            "Who the heck are they?!?!" he asked as he examined. Wanda looked over his shoulder, then made a comment similar to her brother's.

            "I'm not sure," Evan scratched his head, addressing two strange women and a man with strange, bluish-black hair. "But I think that somehow everyone in that picture is connected." 

            Pietro and Wanda frowned. "How do you know that?" they asked simultaneously.

            Evan shook his head. "I don't know; but I'm going to find out." He tucked the pictures into his wallet he carried everywhere with him. He looked up to notice that suddenly Wanda and Pietro were both sitting down, their eyes downcast. "What's wrong?"

            "We've got to go back tomorrow," Wanda explained in a teary voice. Pietro and Evan both immediately rushed  to her side, trying to keep her from crying, but Pietro himself looked as if he was on the verge of tears. Evan didn't know what happened over there, but whatever it was had to be bad to move the older kids to tears. Pietro and Wanda had encountered some things in their short twelve years than most grown adults had in their entire life.

            "Dad's coming next week, which is usually good, but…until then…" Pietro trailed off. He turned his head and shut his eyes to keep from letting the tears welling up in his eyes from falling.

            Evan gritted his teeth. "Wanda, if they touch you, tell me; I'll kill them, I swear to God, I will-" Evan popped a long and extremely sharp spike, sharp enough to cut if you so much as touched it. He made a violent gesture with it.

            "NO," Pietro barked. Evan looked slightly taken back. "We might hang out with _them, but we're not going to murder them, we won't steep to Trigger's level. Promise me that," he looked at them. "Promise me, after this, we listen to F.D. and ignore them completely. Scarlet?" Wanda nodded solemnly. "Spyke?" Evan got up and walked out of sight._

            "I hope that's his way of saying he'll quit," Wanda whispered.

            "I hope so, too," Pietro said through clenched teeth, "but we both know it's not."

*******************

            "Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Evan asked again as he carried Wanda's bag down the steps and out the back door to the Maximoff residence.

            Wanda sighed. "For the fiftieth time, yes!" she told him, trying to sound cheerful. At the look of doubt on Evan's face, she sighed again, leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Ok?" she asked softly. Evan was so shocked, he only nodded. Pietro, coming behind them, laughed and gave a wolf whistle. That brought Evan back.

            "Stuff it, Silver, and before I forget," Evan growled at Pietro before reaching into his pockets and pulling out two copies of each of the pictures and handing them to each twin. "I'm sure you've probably already got a copy of these picture at home," Evan begin, purposely drawing out the last phrase as if to prove that Wanda and Pietro belonged where he belonged, "but you can keep this on yourself at all times, just in case you run into one of these people."  Wanda smiled and trudged on as slowly as possible. Evan and Pietro always stopped and talked before Pietro walked back into that prison. "Are you sure she's going to be ok? You'll protect her?"

            "Promise." Even jokester Pietro knew when to get serious.

            "What about you, bro?" Evan asked, making Pietro look him in the eye; they could never lie to one another if they were looking at the other's eye, whether it was Wanda, Pietro, or Evan, they could always see the truth. "You're going to be all ok, right?"

"Yeah….promise," Pietro said, hesitating slightly before answering. Evan frowned and Pietro looked away; Evan had seen the truth.  He set the bag on the porch as Wanda came back out. It was taking them longer to talk than usual.

            Pietro dropped his bags, and Evan put an arm around each of them and they did the same thing. "I want you guys to come back safe after E leaves, got it?" They nodded. "If they touch either of you guys, tell me, I swear I'll kill them if they do." Again, the twins nodded. Evan took his arm from around them and gripped Pietro's shoulders firmly. "Promise me again you'll take care of Wanda and yourself; _I don't want to lose you two._" Evan said gravely.

            "I promise, no matter what." Evan hugged both of them, holding onto Wanda a little longer than usual. 

Evan stepped off the porch, and even as he walked to his own house, he had never felt farther away from his the twins who had become his adopted brother and sister. No one said anything; somehow, they all knew that something was going to change, and that it had to do with Wanda; and whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.


	2. Downhill

Disclaimer: ……………………………………………………….

Filius: that's idiot for ' I don't own X-men: Evolution.

Filia: You should know.

Kevin: Yeah, it's your native language.

Me: ::manages to actually be understood through gauge:: They tied me up for taking the X-men and-:: hit on  head from mace borrowed from aggressive, redhead, winged woman…::

Peter: That ought to shut her up.

**AN: this is for auburnbeagle, so please ignore this note if you are not her; there is a reason this is rated Pg-13.  Think piano and _the Rules of Attraction. _I have warned you. Continue reading at your own risk…**

**AN: Whenever Pietro and Wanda talk about Mr. and Mrs. Daniels and Ororo, they say 'F.D., M.D., and A.O.' because that is what they call them; Evan, however, calls them, 'Mom, Dad, and Auntie O', so the short forms of them are really the real thing…at least for Pietro and Wanda. Sorry if that just confused you…**

*Downhill*

            Evan groaned and glanced at his clock. It was only midnight. Wanda usually waited until about one in the morning before she lost it on their first night back in that non-excuse for a home. He pulled back his covers and walked to his window. He frowned; Wanda was outside. She usually at least stayed inside the house. Sighing, Evan turned to grab a shirt, and thought about grabbing his bat after what happened with the Maximoffs last time, but didn't even get a chance to slip on his missing garment because his senses he had developed from being around Pietro and Wanda told were telling him that something was definitely wrong. He walked back to the window and glanced out to the Maximoffs backyard again. Cursing under his breath, he abandoned the thoughts of a shirt or his bat. He produced a large, dangerous spike, sped down the stairs at a break neck speed, and flew out the door and to the Maximoffs' house.

*********************

Wanda was screaming bloody murder; almost everything in the back yard, lawn gnomes, small plants, anything small enough for Wanda to hex, was shrouded in a blue light and flying everywhere, making it impossible to reach her. He felt slightly relieved and uneasy at the same time: relived because every house on the block was sound proof - the only way Evan had managed to hear anything was because his hearing was acute and he had been listening for something- so no one would come out to investigate; uneasy because …every house on the block was soundproof and no one would come out to investigate; he felt his stomach drop.  Evan covered his chest with plates and prepared to try to run through the flying lawn when he heard more screaming. Evan turned and looked to the house. How could he have been so stupid? Pietro was always standing beside Wanda when this happened, but he wasn't tonight. 

            "Three guesses as to why, and the first is the only one that counts," Evan groaned as he sprinted to the front of the house. He tried to open the door; stuck. He rammed into the door, but it still wouldn't budge. Giving up in frustration, he ran back to back where Wanda was still out of control. Gritting his teeth, he plunged through, barely missing being hit by a large lawn ornament that smashed on the wall of the house, scattering large pieces of glass on the lawn, one of which Evan stepped on. He cursed again as he raced through the open back door, trying hard to ignore the searing pain in his foot. Looking around in a frantic, he searched for Pietro; not in sight. He heard the scream again, and he felt his spine tingle. That didn't sound natural at all, much less like anything Pietro could utter. Taking the steps three at a time, he ran to the second floor, leaving a small trail of blood behind him. At least his limited healing factor was kicking in; too bad if he got seriously hurt, he wouldn't be able to do much of anything about it himself. 

He stopped as he came to the cross of the hallways; one led to Pietro's room, the other led to Wanda's, and the third led to those horrible Maximoffs' room. Taking a chance, he raced down Pietro's hall and immediately knew he'd made a mistake. He skidded to a halt and blazed back down the hall and into Wanda's, all the while with the screaming of both the twins' beating a rhythm on his eardrum.

*********************

            He had to stop and let out a cry himself when he finally reached Pietro; Mr. Maximoff was holding Pietro, who was only in his boxers, while Mrs. Maximoff was beating him with a cane. Pietro's face  was covered in tears and traces of blood. He was kicking his holder hard, or, he was trying to, but almost all of them were missing, and each time he tried, another blow of the cane struck. Evan's face was boiling hot; he felt like he was going to explode. There was pounding in his ears, so he didn't hear whatever it was the Maximoffs were saying, but he knew it wasn't good when the woman approached him. He gasped as she gripped his neck, her nails digging into his skin. Feeling himself being lifted in the air, he tried to breath in through his nose and was overcome by the smell of way too much alcohol. Faintly, he heard Pietro crying.

            "RUN! GET OUR SISTER! EVAN, JUST LEAVE, DON'T WORRY; PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!"

            Evan found that the woman had pinned him against the wall and was getting ready to talk again. "So, you came to rescue you little boyfriend, huh? Isn't that sweet?"  
            Evan spit in her face. "He's my brother, so go to hell." He brought the spike down hard on the base of her neck, drawing blood. She immediately let go, and Evan fell to the floor. He used the spike to hit her again before she could get back up, and this time, he knocked her unconscious. The man had been too busy watching to pay much attention to Pietro, who had almost gotten out of his grasp when he turned to him.

            "Oh, no you don't, you damn trouble maker; I'm not letting you get away." That was all Evan needed, the man to turn his back, and he rushed toward him, spike raised in hand, but before he got there, he saw -or rather didn't see- Pietro

Pietro had been trying to run from the man the entire time, and just as Evan reached him, he was gone. Both Evan and the man stopped in surprise. Evan saw a blur out of the corner of his eye, and cautiously, he moved away from the man and turned so that he could see better. There was Pietro, standing shakily, his icy blue eyes open wide in surprise. His normally pale skin looked even paler. Evan was shaking his head, blinking, rubbing his eyes, shaking his head again. Mr. Maximoff took a second to process what had happened, then he rushed forth with new found anger.

            Pietro was gone again and standing beside Evan before he even reached the door. Without saying a word, Pietro and Evan nodded to one another before Pietro grabbed him and sped over the intoxicated man. Evan used the spike to knock the man unconscious, the dull sound of the spike striking his flesh pounding out a deathly rhythm that made them sick to their stomachs. Trembling, Evan dropped the spike with a dull clunk on the hard floor, and Pietro, breathing heavily, sped them both back out to the lawn where Wanda had yet to calm down.

            "Oh, God," Pietro breathed as he watched Wanda.  The entire backyard was covered in a mist of blue, things speeding in the air, twisting , twirling, and crashing into other things. As they hesitantly stepped farther on the porch, this time, Pietro barely missed being hit by a sharp shard of an old pot; it did, however, barely graze his face, causing  a small line of blood to trickle down his already dirty face. 

            He ran a hand through his matted silver hair which Evan realized suddenly with a shock had dried blood in it. He put a hand to his own golden hair and felt a slight shiver as he realized that he, too, had dried blood in his hair and blood (that wasn't his own, he realized frightfully) on his no longer plate covered chest. He chanced a glance at Pietro back and legs; there were so many cuts, here, there, everywhere, and all of them were slowly trickling blood.

            He turned his attention to Wanda. There were now small circles of blue light that were…coming from ….Wanda. Pietro was panicking and running around the porch at his new found speed. Evan once again covered his bare chest before preparing to run in.

            "Pietro, do you think that you could get us to Wanda?"

            "I don't know! I couldn't do anything else right tonight, why should this be any different? I might lose both of you! Damn it, what the hell did I do to deserve this? Help me, God." Pietro continued on as he found he could talk at a hyper speed, too. Evan held both his shoulders and made Pietro stare into his dark brown eyes as he had earlier.         

            "Pietro, get a hold of yourself; for me and Wanda. Just concentrate; get us over there, please. We have to do something right now, and I don't think I can get through everything. Pietro!" he shook Pietro again. Pietro bit his lip and nodded his head. Grabbing onto to Evan, Pietro took a deep breath and plunged through the mess and to his sister.

****************

            Wanda moaned slightly as Evan and Pietro lifted her into bed and slipped on her pajamas. Evan pulled up the deep red covers while Pietro ran a trembling hand through  her midnight colored hair.

            "I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry," Pietro just kept mumbling over and over again as solitary tears rolled down his cheek his face silently. Pietro  moved a hand over his sister's and squeezed it gently. Wanda's eyes were still closed tightly and her breathing was still irregular. 

            "Oh, God, this is all my fault; I'm your brother; I'm supposed to make sure you guys don't run into trouble I ….almost didn't make it in time. God, I'm so sorry," Evan choked as he grasped Wanda's other extremely pale hand and reached his other hand to Pietro's shoulder to comfort both the older boy and himself as well. 

They sat there in that manner for almost an entire hour without stirring in an unnatural silence broken only by small, almost inaudible sniffs and chokes as they tried to stop crying as they watched Wanda's breathing slowing go back to normal. Finally Evan, who had his head bowed as if he might have been praying glanced at the clock and silently shook the older boy's shoulder.

"If we don't get up in time tomorrow to go to practice, Dad is going to have our hides," he told him, as loud as he could which was still barely above a whisper.

"I know."

"So are you going to take a run?" The night's events hadn't disoriented his common knowledge of Pietro.

Silently, Pietro stood up, brushed a strand of hair out of his face, gave Wanda's hand one more squeeze before he placed it on the bed, and stalked out of the room. Evan took one last long glance at Wanda as he traced her face with the back of his hand.

"I really messed up, didn't I?" he asked no one in particular. "I knew something wasn't right, and I let you talk me into believing nothing was wrong with that your stupid innocence that you have despite every damn thing we've gone through. I can't fucking believe I almost came too late; I can't fucking believe I let it get to this; and I can't fucking believe I almost lost you." Evan stared at the face of his sister- his _sister_, not 'sister'- and felt like he could have really killed himself for being so stupid. He closed and locked the door to Wanda's room as he walked out and went to the bathroom.

Carefully, he closed the door and locked it to make sure no one walked in, then stripped his clothes and climbed into a hot shower. He let the water pour over him, trying to make it rinse away all the anger, all the pain, everything from that night along with the dirt. Climbing out, he put on his favorite pajama bottoms- black with yellow lettering all over it that said thing like 'beware', 'caution', 'rogue', 'warning', 'dangerous', 'threat to society', and other things like that- and threw the ones he's been wearing in the trash; he would have burned them –just to get rid of them once and for all- but somehow, he didn't think that his folks would take too kindly to that. They had, however, burned everything Wanda and Pietro had been wearing; Evan could have sworn he could even still smell the smoke from the smoldering clothing…

To try and calm himself down, he quietly walked downstairs in a sort of daze and removed a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough from the freezer. He sat at the table and ate the ice cream slowly as he always did when he was upset. He felt a strange breeze come through the kitchen door suddenly and he guessed that it was Pietro back in from his run. 

            "I must have taken a longer shower than I thought; you usually run for hours at a time," commented Evan taking another bite.

            "No, not tonight; I didn't have the heart to run that long," Pietro responded. "But…" Pietro paused and Evan looked up. He sighed. "Evan, I outran a car for a few miles… and I didn't even run out of breath, or break out in a sweat; I wasn't tired at all, I mean, it was if I had just walked from my room to yours." He frowned. "So… the only question now is whether or not this new found ability is a good thing or whether it's a bad thing." 

            "It's both; it's good because now Magneto will like you the same way he likes Wanda now, right? Isn't that what you want? But on the same hand-"

            "I know; it's the only reason he'll like me." He frowned as Evan handed him a spoon.

            "That's not true; you're cool person, and you're his son; he should _love you just because of that." Evan frowned this time. "At least, he's _supposed_ to like you, but he doesn't, does he? I mean, let's be completely honest here; Magneto likes no one; not even his own flesh and blood. In all honesty, bro, you should just forget about it all together because he's nothing but a son of a bit-"_

            "I KNOW!" Pietro interrupted him. He stood up angrily and slammed his fist on the table. "I know, all right? I know." He shook his head and slowly dragged his feet up the steps before pushing his bedroom door closed without a sound. Evan, his ice cream abandoned, followed and listened in shock as Pietro lay in his bed crying so quietly, he could barely hear it. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, put his head back against the wall, and looked up as if he were looking for God.

            Evan tried to keep the tears from falling from his own eyes but failed miserably. Wanda –even though she knew that both boys would be mad about it in the morning –walked  out of her bedroom and sat down beside Evan, placing a comforting arm around his shoulders and leaning her head on him. Pietro walked out barely a minute later with a blanket and tow, and sitting on the other side of Evan and letting him rest his head on his shoulder, draped the blanket on all of them. Wanda and Pietro slowly drifted off to sleep, leaving Evan alone with his troubling thoughts for a moment. 

 "Why? All I want to know is: why? Why?" He sighed as if defeated and gazed at the ceiling again as if searching for the answer to his question.

**********************

            "Evan, Pietro." Pietro slowly blinked his eyes in confusion as a blurry image swam into view. It sharpened, and Pietro could see it was a man.

            He smiled slightly. "Have a rough night?" _You have no idea_ Pietro thought in response to Evan's father's question. "Come on, get up; you have exactly two hours to get to practice. Hustle!" He walked off whistling a merry tune.

            "Glad to see someone's happy today," Evan groaned as he sat up, careful not to wake up Wanda. "Help me take her back to bed, huh? She can get cleaned up later and we'll take her with us." Pietro nodded silently and helped Evan carry Wanda before getting his shower while Evan set out their uniforms.

            "Hurry up! You have to get the equipment, and I still need a shower!" Evan called to Pietro through the door. Pietro emerged with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet and spilling into his eyes.

            Evan frowned at him slightly. He poked his wet chest. "I want to talk to you before we leave –alone," Evan hissed at him before walking in the bathroom and closing the door. Pietro grimaced; an angry Evan was about as good to have around as an angry Wanda.

**********************

            Evan sat on the chair opposite of Pietro's bed which he was currently stretched out on, gazing up at the poster of the Festering Boils; at least that's what it looked like; really; he was gazing at a picture of him, Evan and Wanda, arms linked around each other with Wanda in the middle, ice cream all over their faces.

            "What is it? Do you want another of my CDs you're not going to return?" It was a cheap shot and they both knew it.

            "That's not why I'm here, you know it." Evan approached Pietro's bed and stood towering over him. "What happened over there last night? Before I came?"

            He sighed; he knew Evan would ask that; really, he was surprised that Evan hadn't asked him last night. "I don't want to talk about it."

            "I didn't ask if you wanted to talk about it; I asked what happened." Evan crossed his arms angrily. Pietro sat up.

            "I –I mean –Wanda wanted me to stay with her because she was upset, so I camped out beside her to make her feel a little bit safer, being away from home and all. But, you see, Mr. Maximoff didn't know that, and –and –" He frowned and stopped as if it would cause him mortal pain if he continued.

            "And what?" Evan prodded him to continue. Pietro just shook his head as if he were incapable of saying anything else. "And _what,_ Pietro? You better tell me." Pietro shook his head harder. Evan grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Damn it Pietro, you tell me the rest right now," he hissed in that quiet, dangerous way he did when he was about to snap.

            "Damn it Evan, he went in her room!" Pietro exploded and rocketed up. "He fucking went in her room, ok? And he didn't know I was in there, and he told me to leave, and I wouldn't; so they beat me. I made Wanda run out of the house before Mrs. Maximoff could get in there, and they got mad! Are you happy? I couldn't protect her even when I was right beside her! I want to kill him! HE WENT IN HER ROOM! Do you know _why_ he was in her room?!? I DO! I KNOW! HE'S FUCKING DONE IT BEFORE, TOO! HE WON'T LEAVE HER THE HELL ALONE, OK? THAT'S WHY SHE DOESN'T WANT US TO TOUCH HER, THAT'S WHY I HAVE ALL OF THOSE DAMN SCARS! THAT'S WHY, DAMN IT!" Pietro yelled at the top of his lungs. He panted hard before collapsed back on the bed. "That's why. And I couldn't do anything about it; I told you two I would protect the both of you, and look; I already failed. I failed, and you guys pay for it, and all I can do is sit here and say I'm sorry; that's all I can do; just repeat how sorry I am to you over and over again," Pietro whispered. Evan's eyes were on fire as he took all of this in.

            "He –went –in –her –room?!?!? He went in her room?!?! She's only twelve fucking years old, that bastard." He repeated in that dangerous tone again. Pietro looked up slightly frightened of what he might do.  Evan jumped up and ran out the door, spike in hand, still in his basketball uniform. He tore down the staircase and through the front hall; just as he reached the door, Pietro appeared in front of him in a flash of silver. Pietro struggled to hold Evan back from running out the door.

            "Evan, please, no; don't; you _can't_," Pietro told him through gritted teeth as he held Evan's hands up in the air and tried to push him back into the house. He hit Evan in the stomach, but other than a louder growl, Evan didn't seem to notice as he only pushed harder. Wanda, who woke up after all the screaming, saw what was happening and ran up behind Evan and tried to help pull him back in the house.

            "Let –me –go," he told them through gritted teeth as he strained harder. "I'm –going –to –kill –that –son –of –a –bitch –if –it's –the –last –thing –I –do."

            "No Evan! Please!" Wanda pleaded with him. "Don't kill him! _You're not like Trigger, you're not!" Evan stopped suddenly, his eyes opened in surprise. That had done the trick. Wanda stepped back and turned him to face her.  She forced him to look in her eyes. "You're Evan; you're my brother; and you're not like Trigger."  Her grip on his tightened and she hugged him as if her life depended on it. Evan leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. He dropped the spike in defeat._

            "No; you're right; I'm not." He buried his head in her long black hair. "I'm not."

*********************

            "Why the heck didn't you tell me this before?" Evan asked as he ignored the bottle of water he was handed as he climbed into the bleachers to sit beside Wanda who'd been watching them practice. Pietro joined them before she could answer.  

            "Well?" he looked from one twin to the other. "Did you at least tell Magneto?" Both twins hung their heads. He sighed. "Why didn't you tell him? He could have done something about it. He-"

            "Wouldn't have believed us." Wanda told him quietly.

            "What the heck are you talking about? He's your father, he-"

            "He doesn't give a damn what happens to us as long as we serve his purpose; face it, he almost wishes we were never born." Pietro glared angrily down at the lower seat of the bleachers where the rest of the team was joking around, talking about things kids were supposed to talk about, like sports and friends, and who's going with who, and who did what that was embarrassing, who did what that was unforgivable; the things that were never important enough to talk about with the three kids sitting isolated at the top of the bleachers.

            "He's coming tomorrow, right?"

            "Yeah," Pietro and Wanda responded at the same time.

            "I'm telling him, then."

"But –" 

"And you can't talk me out of it either, so don't even try," he continued as they both tried to talk him out of it, but by then the coach was calling them back down to get back to practice. Pietro hit the seat he was sitting on in frustration before following Evan who was half way down.

********************

            Evan tossed and turned; the nightmare was so real. He bolted and sat up suddenly, panting slightly. He turned, startled, when his door slowly swung open, but let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw it was Wanda. She was trembling slightly, but enough for Evan to see it.

            "What's wrong, sis?" he asked as he threw the covers off and prepared to get up, but she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. Evan was slightly take back, so he let her sit beside him and continued to hold on as his shoulder slowly grew wet with her tears.

            "What's going on? Are you ok?" he asked again as he patted her back.

            "No, everything's all wrong! I'm so tired of everything! I'm tired of holding everything inside; I'm tired of watching you and Pietro run around with those guys, not realizing how much trouble they can really get you in; I'm tired of not being able to talk about; and I'm tired of being used!" She pulled off of him. "Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm tired of it! I'm tired!" She beat her fist on Evan's chest before collapsing on him again and crying more. "I'm tired of taking it, Evan. I'm tired."

            Evan held her tighter and swung himself back into his bed, along with Wanda and laid her down beside him. "I know; I'm tired too. We _won't take it anymore; I promise."_

            She looked up and smiled slightly. "Is that an empty promise? There've been a lot of those around here lately, you know."

            "None of them were intentional; we won't let anything else happen to you, ok? We'll have to die first, and then we're _still _not going to let anything else happen to you." He hugged her and she smiled again and closed her eyes as she allowed him to pull her closer. "_I won't let anything else happen to you, sis." He looked over her head and out the window to the star splattered sky and wondered why things always happened to the three of them. He wasn't sure how long he'd lay there holding Wanda before she fell into an uneasy sleep._

            "Come on in, Pietro," Evan said suddenly without turning to the door. Soft footsteps were heard before a figure appeared in his line of view as it climbed in beside Wanda. "How long did you go tonight?"

            "I went to see Check," a voice replied.

            "How long were you there, and what did you tell him?"

            "A few hours, but I didn't talk to him. I couldn't." Pietro ran his hands through his sister's hair.

            "Why?"

            There was a small pause as if her were contemplating what to say. "I just couldn't."

**********************

            Shaking his head to clear it, Evan glanced towards the window; it wasn't even dawn yet; why the heck had he waken up?

            Wait; the bed was empty. He jumped up and ran to the window. Looking out, he managed to see a black car's doors open up seemingly by themselves, and Wanda and Pietro, both fully clothed, step into the back seat before a man with a hat and a long trench coat stepped in the driver's side.

            "NO!!" he screamed as he pounded on the window with sheets of water running down it, just like his face. "NO! NO! PIETRO, HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO DAMN STUPID?!?!?!?!? NO!!! DON'T GO WITH HIM!!! NO!!" Evan screamed and screamed. His father appeared at the door.

            "What's wrong, son?" he asked sleepily.

            "They're gone! THEY'RE GONE!!!" Evan screamed at him as he grabbed a shirt and a jacket.

            "Of course they are; they're father was coming to pick them up early today, remember?"

            "When are they coming back?!?!?" Evan was scrambling down the steps with his father rubbing his head as he slowly followed his son. He threw open the front door and ran out, his bare feet hitting the wet pavement hard as he felt thankful for once in his life to have been forced into sports all year round. He ran to the corner, but the car was gone. Panting he bent over and rested one hand on his knee while he put the other on a lamp pole. 

            His father, who had taken the time to put on shoes and a coat correctly, finally reached him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Why didn't you wake me up before they left?" he asked quietly.

            "I know you wanted to go with them, but I thought they might have needed to spend a little time with their father by themselves, ok? You can talk with Erik later; I'm sure you'll enjoy going to the game with them tomorrow, hmm?"

            Evan hit the pole in frustration. "That idiot… that idiot!! Why couldn't he see what Magneto was doing?."

            His dad frowned. "Magneto?"

            "He should have let me come with him; he's not going to tell him, but those rotten Maximoffs are gonna tell him somethin' horrible about them, and then….damn it, I just know somethin' bad's gonna happen to them….and I can't do anything because of his stupid…ARGHH!" he hit the pole again, though harder. "When are they coming back?"

            "Sometime tonight, I believe, why?"

            Evan hit the pole again so hard, his hand throbbed. "It'll be too late by then."

*****************************

            He jumped up when he heard the door open and a pair of feet trudged slowly in. He rushed out and tackled the figure to the wall, holding it by its shirt, it head thrown hard against the wall causing the figure to moan in pain.

            "Why the hell did you leave without me? Did you even tell him?" He snarled in his face.

            "I –I had to, ok?" Pietro looked at Evan's angry eyes.

            "Did you fucking tell him?!?!" 

            Pietro looked thoroughly shaken. "I –I –I…."

            Evan dropped him angrily and Pietro slumped on the floor. Both were breathing heavily and seemed to not take notice of  the rain being swept into the open door by the wind.

            "You have no idea what you have done, do you? You just signed Wanda's death penalty. You –" Evan stopped. Something was missing from this picture. He looked down on the ground at the paler than usual Pietro and immediately picked him back up and slammed him against the wall again.

"Where is she?" Evan asked hurriedly, locking Pietro's eyes on his.

Pietro just gulped and turned his eyes away. Evan's eyes opened in surprise at what he saw in Pietro's.

He calmed down only the slightest bit in order to get more out of Pietro. "Pietro, where is Wanda?" Pietro closed his eyes and shook his head.

            "Where the hell is our sister? Where is Wanda?!?!" 


End file.
